Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

More than 50,000 students are to sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) today and tomorrow.

The GSAT replaced the Common Entrance Examination in 1999. Performance in the test determines the placement of students in secondary schools.

Students are assessed on a range of subjects, namely mathematics, language arts, social studies, science and communication tasks.

Some 25,345 boys registered for the examination, compared to 25,117 girls, bringing the total to 50,462 students.

Measures implemented

Jasper Lawrence, chief education officer at the Ministry of Education, said last week that all was in place for the sitting of the GSAT. He also noted that the ministry had implemented various measures to prevent the leaking of papers after last year's test was leaked to a private institution in St Andrew.

The GSAT results are usually due in June. However, in 2006, the results were late, prompting then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to order a probe into the delayed publication.

Among the reasons for the delay, cited by the ministry's officers, was the fact that up to 2,000 more students wrote that test, resulting in difficulty finding school spaces despite a major school-building project.

Last year, more than 200 students were placed in schools which were not built, forcing the ministry to place them in other schools.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com